“It scared me. I knew exactly then how bad they wanted it.”
No knock. No conversation. Just money and silence.
The future doesn’t always ask.
Even in Kemmerer, the questions pile up. Who builds the housing? Who staffs the schools? Who keeps the roads open when 2,000 new workers roll in? Who makes sure this place stays livable—not just profitable?
Trust doesn’t scale like steel.
What makes energy clean isn’t just carbon. It’s how it lands. Who it lifts. Who it leaves. And who gets to choose.
The Antler Motel still flickers. But the lights are on. For now.
Bibliography
1. Gates, Bill. “Why I’m Betting on Nuclear Power.” ABC News , December 2021.
2. Gates outlines his investment in TerraPower and nuclear innovation in an interview following project approval in Wyoming.
3. Ewing, Rodney C., et al. “Nuclear Waste from Small Modular Reactors.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119, no. 23 (2022): e2111833119.
4. A peer-reviewed study highlighting how some SMRs may generate more radioactive waste per megawatt than conventional reactors.
5. International Energy Agency. World Energy Outlook 2023 . Paris: IEA, 2023.
6. The IEA projects global electricity demand doubling by 2050 and outlines key clean energy pathways.
7. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Fossil Fuel Air Pollution Responsible for 1 in 5 Deaths Worldwide.” Harvard Gazette , February 2021.
8. Cites a global study linking fossil fuel pollution to 8 million premature deaths annually.
9. NuScale Power. “Carbon Free Power Project Terminated Due to Insufficient Subscription.” Company Press Release, November 2023.
10. Announces the cancellation of a flagship SMR project after subscriber utilities dropped out.
11. National Ignition Facility. “NIF Achieves Historic Fusion Ignition.” Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , December 2022.
12. Describes the first experiment to produce net energy gain from nuclear fusion.
13. Turrell, Arthur. The Star Builders: Nuclear Fusion and the Race to Power the Planet . New York: Scribner, 2021.
14. Explains the scientific, technical, and political challenges still facing fusion energy.
15. U.S. Department of Energy. “Overview: Office of Nuclear Energy.” Last modified 2023.
16. Outlines federal funding and support for SMRs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and IRA.
17. Wray, Sarah. “Canada’s First SMR Project Moves Ahead in Ontario.” SmartCitiesWorld , January 2024.